It would be hilariously random, awesome, and funny if this turned into a tradition, sort of like the Cougs flag every Saturday on College Gameday. It should be sent from city to city, wherever the Seahawks are. It would be hilarious if the players kept seeing Tanzania flags popping up all over the place on road games. Soccer fans and Japanese baseball fans are notorious for bringing flags of countries where players are from to games and waving them in their honor. All joking aside, it could become a pretty great/funny tradition.

The only thing funnier would be the Hawks making it to the Super Bowl and the media/ESPN writing their typical human interest narrative about the issue, complete with sad "injury timeout" music, leading to Tanzania Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda giving the pregame locker room speech before the game.

The power of Tanzania made me completely forget about my original point in posting.

I F'N LOVE THE BLUE ENDZONES! Always been a big fan. I don't know, whenever they're not there I feel like something's missing. To me, it just makes the field look that much sharper. Hopefully they color em in now that the Sounders season has ended, not that it matters.

I too am a huge fan of the blue endzones... but I'm also a horribly superstitious prick when it comes to sports. We're undefeated at home with the current endzones. Don't change anything while we're still winning. I don't even want to see the grey jerseys while we're still winning. Keep it status quo (because this kind of status quo kicks serious ass).

CANHawk wrote:I too am a huge fan of the blue endzones... but I'm also a horribly superstitious prick when it comes to sports. We're undefeated at home with the current endzones. Don't change anything while we're still winning. I don't even want to see the grey jerseys while we're still winning. Keep it status quo (because this kind of status quo kicks serious ass).

CANHawk wrote:I too am a huge fan of the blue endzones... but I'm also a horribly superstitious prick when it comes to sports. We're undefeated at home with the current endzones. Don't change anything while we're still winning. I don't even want to see the grey jerseys while we're still winning. Keep it status quo (because this kind of status quo kicks serious ass).

Do you have a lucky spot you sit at during games too, CAN?

Yes I do in fact. I also cross my fingers on all third downs and wash the jersey I'm wearing immediately after a loss to purge it of any evil unlucky spirits that may have contributed to said loss.

CaptainSkybeard wrote:OK, somebody explain this to me. I haven't lived in WA for 10 years, longer since I went to a home game. (been to road games)

I have a vague idea what you are talking about, the piece of the stadium painted like a zoo mural? What does it mean and what is the mythology/superstition around it?

We haven't lost a game at home since they painted it to look like Tanzania. THerefore, it is only logical to conclude that this mural of Tanzania has magical properties and that Tanzania itself is somehow responsible for our success at home.

NYCoug wrote:It would be hilariously random, awesome, and funny if this turned into a tradition, sort of like the Cougs flag every Saturday on College Gameday. It should be sent from city to city, wherever the Seahawks are. It would be hilarious if the players kept seeing Tanzania flags popping up all over the place on road games. Soccer fans and Japanese baseball fans are notorious for bringing flags of countries where players are from to games and waving them in their honor. All joking aside, it could become a pretty great/funny tradition.

I've been trying to do this! Couldn't get any takers. I got an undefeated 12th Land flag ready to be shipped to the next willing participant.

This would be a very cool tradition. Real Salt Lake had a fan that was from an area in Brazil and she died. She was one of the first season ticket holders and ran the first real blog about the team. When she died somebody in the BigSoccer groups got a flag from her region and carried it to every RSL game with the hope of carrying it to the club world cup 2 years ago when they made it to the Concacaf finals. She was going to go to the club finals with him and they were going as a group to the world cup (national) as well.

They lost in the final (I was there, and broke up about 10 fights haha) and it was a heartbreaker. But the guy who had the flag and was attending both events as a group with her prior to her untimely death decided to bring the flag to the World Cup instead and go to the places they had said they were going to go. He got there and an amazing thing happened. He saw this group of supporters getting ready to go into a game. None of them spoke English, but they were getting their faces all painted up and drumming and stuff, and the guy asked them where they were from. A guy said, "Brazil" in very difficult commnication (sort of 1/3 English 1/3 Portugese and 1/3 Spanish between the two guys). The Brazilian asked the guy who he was there for (what team). He said he had meant to go with a friend who had died and she was from this one town and said the town's name. The guy from Brazil got huge eyes and said "ME!!!! WE!!!!!" and showed all of the guys there. So the guy gets out his flag from his backpack and they all get the biggest smiles and even start tearing up and stuff. He realizes he had randomly bumped into her villagers essentially in front of 90,000 people trying to get into a stadium and he finally gets somebody to semi-translate and it is like this huge reunion of people that have never met.

I loved that story and thought it was cool. He went into the stadium and stayed with them and at the end of the game he gave them her flag and asked that they carry it back home and carry it on to any games. They promised they would. It was all pretty cool. Maybe he embellished parts of the story, I'm not sure. But he had pictures and such and it looked very genuine and I know for a fact that she did die. So I always thought it would be cool if the Hawks had a tradition like that. So let it be the Tanzania flag being an "unofficial" team flag. I'd love it. The Hawks could put a Tanzania flag on their helmets like Fresno State puts that V on their helmets. It's got a cool backstory as well and is a shout out to their fans.

I also think the Hawks should say "We'll play an overseas game to grow the brand... if all proceeds go to Tanzania or the game is played in Tanzania." If Paul Allen gave that press conference with a straight face he'd be even more of a hero to me. I can imagine the look on Goodell's face. He just wants the Jaguars bidding between London and LA for the billions of dollars, he doesn't want to do anything good for the world. So go whole hog on Tanzania! We can start calling our player of the game the Tanzanian Devil. (Yes, I know it's really Tazmanian, I just thought it sounded cool and I'm going way overboard).

razgriz737 wrote:All 12's must make a pilgrimage to Mt. Kilimanjaro and place a 12th man flag on the summit. That will be the key to achieving Super Bowl glory.

I am going to do this. I can't walk without a cane, but you seriously (I'm not joking here) have just made me set a goal for myself, that I will not only walk normally again.... but I will climb Mount Kilimanjaro and place a 12th man flag up there. My wife and I have talked for years about taking the kids to Africa to meet their distant relatives and see their ancestors homeland of Africa. So this is now on the docket. It WILL happen and I'm going to start training for it now. Luckily I live at almost 5,000 feet so I can already go pretty high up without issues. I've driven well above 10,000 feet a few times on off-road expeditions near my house and got out and taken photos and explored around for a bit and not had any difficulty breathing at all (same with my son as long as he took a hit on his inhaler before we got out of the truck), so I think we're pretty well acclimated. It's just a matter of getting everything to work right in my darn left leg and spine. I at least need to do it before the window closes and my spine says "no mas". It's coming... but I'm trying to hold it off. Now I'm going to push harder and accomplish this goal. I can't wait. I'm in.

SharkHawk wrote:This would be a very cool tradition. Real Salt Lake had a fan that was from an area in Brazil and she died. She was one of the first season ticket holders and ran the first real blog about the team. When she died somebody in the BigSoccer groups got a flag from her region and carried it to every RSL game with the hope of carrying it to the club world cup 2 years ago when they made it to the Concacaf finals. She was going to go to the club finals with him and they were going as a group to the world cup (national) as well.

They lost in the final (I was there, and broke up about 10 fights haha) and it was a heartbreaker. But the guy who had the flag and was attending both events as a group with her prior to her untimely death decided to bring the flag to the World Cup instead and go to the places they had said they were going to go. He got there and an amazing thing happened. He saw this group of supporters getting ready to go into a game. None of them spoke English, but they were getting their faces all painted up and drumming and stuff, and the guy asked them where they were from. A guy said, "Brazil" in very difficult commnication (sort of 1/3 English 1/3 Portugese and 1/3 Spanish between the two guys). The Brazilian asked the guy who he was there for (what team). He said he had meant to go with a friend who had died and she was from this one town and said the town's name. The guy from Brazil got huge eyes and said "ME!!!! WE!!!!!" and showed all of the guys there. So the guy gets out his flag from his backpack and they all get the biggest smiles and even start tearing up and stuff. He realizes he had randomly bumped into her villagers essentially in front of 90,000 people trying to get into a stadium and he finally gets somebody to semi-translate and it is like this huge reunion of people that have never met.

I loved that story and thought it was cool. He went into the stadium and stayed with them and at the end of the game he gave them her flag and asked that they carry it back home and carry it on to any games. They promised they would. It was all pretty cool. Maybe he embellished parts of the story, I'm not sure. But he had pictures and such and it looked very genuine and I know for a fact that she did die. So I always thought it would be cool if the Hawks had a tradition like that. So let it be the Tanzania flag being an "unofficial" team flag. I'd love it. The Hawks could put a Tanzania flag on their helmets like Fresno State puts that V on their helmets. It's got a cool backstory as well and is a shout out to their fans.

I also think the Hawks should say "We'll play an overseas game to grow the brand... if all proceeds go to Tanzania or the game is played in Tanzania." If Paul Allen gave that press conference with a straight face he'd be even more of a hero to me. I can imagine the look on Goodell's face. He just wants the Jaguars bidding between London and LA for the billions of dollars, he doesn't want to do anything good for the world. So go whole hog on Tanzania! We can start calling our player of the game the Tanzanian Devil. (Yes, I know it's really Tazmanian, I just thought it sounded cool and I'm going way overboard).

Thanks for the inspiration or "gimpspiration" as I'll call it. Funny how small things can trigger a sort of "a-ha" moment in our brains. Thanks for making mine work for a minute today.

I love the Tanzania thing taking over the board. I hope it catches on in a bigger scale with the team. Hopefully the marketing guys are still reading here. I'd love to see Tanzania day at the stadium. Fans bring items to send over (like I said in previous posts... things like pencils, footballs, soccer balls, PAPER, shoes, and common household items go a LONG way in those places). Too bad the Hawks don't still have their plane. Can you imagine the news coverage of the Hawks jet making a landing in Tanzania to deliver school supplies along with a couple of players from a strange partnership that formed through Paul Allen's foundation and the Sounders that eventually led to a banner in the stadium becoming a good luck charm to the football fans? It is infinitely better than crap like the rally monkey that actually gets news coverage.

The Hawks could wear green, black, and yellow one time accessories like they do on pink week and auction them off for funds for Tanzania. It would be the most awesome thing yet. It would be sort of a good idea spin on the whole "Seahawks are going green" week from Mora's season that tied them to the Sounders and the whole movement but really flopped due to the ugliness of the jersey. This is something they could throw together in a couple of weeks and I'd personally be happy to man a drop box outside of the stadium and package stuff up to go to Africa. It would be a pleasure. Even moreso next year when the Hawks have Ziggy Ansah on the field (hint hint!) and he gets his native Ghana in on it and the Hawks surpass the Cowboys self-given moniker of "America's Team" and become the first team to be named after a continent and OFFICIALLY become "Africa's Team!" WOOT WOOT!

NYCoug wrote:It would be hilariously random, awesome, and funny if this turned into a tradition, sort of like the Cougs flag every Saturday on College Gameday. It should be sent from city to city, wherever the Seahawks are. It would be hilarious if the players kept seeing Tanzania flags popping up all over the place on road games. Soccer fans and Japanese baseball fans are notorious for bringing flags of countries where players are from to games and waving them in their honor. All joking aside, it could become a pretty great/funny tradition.

I've been trying to do this! Couldn't get any takers. I got an undefeated 12th Land flag ready to be shipped to the next willing participant.

Was listening to the Brock n Salk podcast from yesterday on my way to work this morning and Chris Egan and Brock Huard were talking up the "Magic of Tanzania" pretty good. Seems like we're not the only yay-hoo's that have noticed.

Throw: Do it. The gods of Juju would be pleased as they actually have a summer home on Kilimanjaro.